Diets, eating disorders, vegetarianism… The true or false junior answers questions about food

Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day? Can we replace animal proteins with plant proteins? How to treat anorexia? Nutritionist doctor Corinne Chicheportiche-Ayache answers questions from college students.

While slimming recipes and deprivation challenges flood social networks, the true or false junior looks this week at food. Nutritionist doctor Corinne Chicheportiche-Ayache responds to students from Emile Combes colleges, in Gironde, and Jean-Perrin, in Hauts-de-Seine.

Yes, breakfast is important… But you shouldn’t force yourself to eat

“Is it true that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?” asks Louis.

“Breakfast, if not the most important meal, is one of the most important meals of the day, explains Dr Chicheportiche-Ayache. For what ? Because it will give us all the energy necessary to be able to concentrate at school, to be able to memorize, to be able to play sports also in the playground. And above all to arrive at other meals without being too hungry and without taking the risk of snacking or eating, for example, when we arrive at the canteen, too much bread, to the detriment of good foods and other nutrients.

That said, if you are not hungry before going to college, you should definitely not force yourself, specifies the nutritionist. She suggests taking a compote and a piece of bread, for example, in case of cravings on the way or at recess.

No, the obesity rate is not directly linked to eating in the morning

“Is it true that not eating breakfast increases obesity rates?”, asks Sakian. There is no direct link between the development of obesity and not eating in the morning. By skipping breakfast, explains Corinne Chicheportiche-Ayache, we increase the risk of food compulsion. We can be tempted to binge on food at lunchtime and eat more than we need. But, be careful, this does not mean that we will become obese.

Obesity is a disease, which manifests itself by an abnormal accumulation of fat in the body, and whose causes are multiple and complex. There is a family and genetic predisposition, that is to say that if you have obese parents you are more likely to become obese yourself. There is also a sedentary lifestyle, not moving enough, or even the consumption of very sugary and very fatty products.

Yes, sport can make you want to eat less

“Can sport help you suppress your appetite and lose weight?”asks Marie. “Sport will contribute, through the release of certain substances in the brain, called endorphins, among others, to having a certain well-being, explains Dr. Chicheportiche-Ayache. And this well-being is not that it will make us hungry, it’s that it will make us want to eat less. This can sometimes increase hunger. But hunger is a normal physiological signal that must be respected and responded to.”

Yes, anorexia may be partly linked to pressure from loved ones

“I read that a large proportion of adolescents today become anorexic because of pressure from their loved ones. Is this true?” Louise asks.

Anorexia, which is a mental illness, may be linked to “pressure from loved ones”, confirms the nutritionist. But this is far from being the only explanation. “There is a pressure that we call a global social pressure on body image, that is to say the relationship that we can have with our body. With an ideal of thinness which has been built a lot these last decades and which has accelerated in recent times and which is increased, augmented by tools that you, children, use a lot Not only children, moreover, adults a lot, but you, a lot since you have grown up. with. It is in particular social networks which will constantly amplify this relationship with body image.”

These slimming challenges or so-called miracle diets, shared on TikTok or Instagram, which will push girls and boys to starve themselves to correspond to this ideal of slimness.

Multidisciplinary support to treat anorexia

“How to treat anorexia?”, Héloïse wonders. This is a big question that cannot be answered in a single broadcast. Corinne Chicheportiche-Ayache, who sees adolescents suffering from anorexia, details the medical support that is often offered: “The treatment is done with a pair, with two doctors in general, with two types of medical structures. A psychological medical structure since the starting point is often mental. It is often the perception we have of our body or the ideal we want from our body We work with a psychologist or a psychotherapist in general, or even a psychiatrist. And then we also work with what we call a somatician doctor. take care of the body Because one of the characteristics of eating disorders is that they can have consequences on the health of the body, that is to say in particular on the development, on the ability to to be able to grow well, on the risk of deficiency and we also work, of course, on nutrition.

This collective work is also often implemented to treat other eating disorders such as bulimia.

Yes, plant proteins can replace animal proteins

“Is it true that plant proteins can replace animal proteins in a vegetarian diet?” According to nutritionist Corinne Chicheportiche-Ayache, to have a sufficient protein intake when you eat neither meat nor fish, you must “combine dried vegetables and cereals”. But, according to her, the most important thing is iron intake: “Iron deficiency can cause major difficulties in the development and growth of the child. There is iron of plant origin. You will tell me lentils, you are right. We will find it in the tofu. This is also true, for example. But this iron of plant origin, its characteristic, is that it is five times less well absorbed by our digestive tract than iron of animal origin. vegetarian diet, we will have sources of iron, but we will be very very careful to ensure that the intakes are sufficient, in particular through blood tests, to ensure that there is no risk of consequences on the body. growth of the child.

In some cases, the doctor prescribes iron-based powders or tablets to ensure the necessary intake. Conversely, you must be careful of excess animal proteins. Several studies show that this promotes obesity, diabetes or hypertension. Corinne Chicheportiche-Ayache recommends limiting yourself to a maximum portion of meat per day.